Big Mo's Blog

Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" Won't Go Platinum Before It Drops

by Big Mo,posted Jun 21 2013 12:33AM

According to a report, Jay-Z's "Magna Carta Holy Grail" will not be going platinum before it drops despite being available for a million users for free.

Jay-Z's next album, Magna Carta Holy Grail, will be available to a million Samsung users for free but the album may not immediately qualify for platinum certification. This news comes after Jay-Z announced his partnership with Samsung and questioned whether going platinum before releasing the album was an option.

Billboard currently does not recognize bulk sales which are then given for free. Instead, they count sales from retailers that buy in bulk with the intention of selling. Retailers must also purchase the albums for at least a third of the project's Suggested Retail Price, or SRP. It is currently known that Samsung purchased Jay's album for $5 per unit. However, the project's SRP is not known as of yet.

There is another issue with Jay being certified platinum before the album drops. According to MTV's report, RIAA certification is only available after 30 days from the project's release date. Therefore, Jigga will have to wait for 30 days after releasing Magna Carta Holy Grailbefore knowing what plaques he can get.

Jay wondered about this on Monday in a rare Twitter update for fans.

Jay's Magna Carta Holy Grail follows last year's Watch the Thronewith Kanye West. That album reached platinum status. Two of Jigga's last three solo efforts, The Blueprint 3and Kingdom Come, sold over two million each, earning more plaques for Hov. One album in between, American Gangster, only went platinum. All of Jay's previous releases reached either platinum or multi-platinum plaques with his highest seller being 1998's Vol. 2...Hardknock Life, which went five times platinum.